Ranked the 11th best second baseman of all Whitaker, Trammell, and teammate Jack Morris will all be eligible with the Modern Baseball Committee, a 16-member group of veteran players, executives, media membersand historians that meets twice every five years and considers players who made their most significant contribution to baseball between 1970 and 1987. Do you have a blog? Exceeded rookie limits during 1978 season, View Player Bio OF Jos BautistaSP Bartolo ColnOF Matt Holliday3B David Wright. Whitaker is someone that the sabermetric community has long campaigned for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, as he was, inexplicably, dropped off the BBWAA ballot on his first ballot in 2001 after receiving just 2.9 percent of the vote, or 2.1 percent below the requisite five percent needed to stay on the ballot. Sparky Anderson, he loved to play with this big grass because he thought he had groundball pitchers which we had nothing but fly ball pitchers with Morris and Gullickson, Whitaker said. But Whitakerdrew just 2.9 percent of the vote for Cooperstown in 2001, his only year on the Baseball Writers Association of Americas ballot, disqualifying him from future consideration by the writers. So, when will Lou finally get into the Hall of Fame? Asked whether he considered Morris a Hall of Famer, Whitaker said yes. He teamed with shortstop Alan Trammell to play the most games together of any 2B/SS combo in MLB history. More than this, in his career, Bonds hit 762 home runs, also a professional baseball record.2022 was Bonds last year of eligibility for Hall of Fame voting, and he was once again denied the honor. Heck, its a good OPS+ for. When Trammell made his big league debut on September 9, 1977, he became the first Kearny High School graduate positional player to reach the majors. from the SABR BioProject, More Lou Whitaker Pages at Baseball Reference. To appear on the ballot, players need to spend 10 years in the majors and be five years removed from retirement. Whitaker had a career WAR of 75.1, which is seventh all time for second basemen. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973 in a special election that waived the mandatory five-year waiting period. Bauers, who was added to the 26-man roster, bruised his right knee when he slammed into the left-field wall while making a catch in the first inning. Garvey is one of the great Los Angeles Dodgers and the 1974 MVP. They both played about 2300 games and Whitaker amassed 69.7 WAR compared to Alomars 63.5 WAR in 12 fewer games. Baseball researcher and Cooperstown enthusiast Adam Darowski made note of this in an email and also offered a theory for Trammell and Whitakers differing popularity. Rafael Palmeiro is one of the guys we can partly blame as to why Garvey didnt get into Cooperstown. Lou Whitaker's HoF case by Joe Posnanski The only thing thats keeping my range of motion down is the swelling, so Im sure today well try to get all of that out of there.. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. Lou Whitaker Detroit Tigers Baseball Hall Fame 1979 Topps Card 1 in a pregame ceremony, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Zack Greinke might also be part of this class, as he has yet to sign with any team for the 2023 season. You had some quality starters during those years but Jack pretty much dominated, was the ace. Want even more detail about the formula? 2023 www.freep.com. Buy from many sellers and get your cards all in one shipment! Lou Whitaker Steve Garvey is one of only two players in the top ten snubbed from Cooperstown for a non-controversial reason. Seemingly, this accusation has been enough to keep Clemens out of Cooperstown. Nearly three decades after his final game, Lou Whitaker took another swing and a miss on Monday. Trammell was elected to the Hall by the veterans committee as part of the class of 2018 (along with fellow Tiger Jack Morris). Im sure I couldve played another four years, if I wanted to be there for numbers and whatever other things that might dare to come, Whitaker said. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. The Hall restructured the veterans committee process last April for the third time in 12 years. About page. Lou Whitaker Stats, Fantasy & News | MLB.com PEDs strike again. Chase Utley retired with an OPS+ of 117, for example. Draft: Drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 5th round of the 1975 MLB June Amateur Draft from Martinsville HS (Martinsville, VA). What Happens If A Fan Touches The Ball In Play? December 7th, 2019. Lou Whitaker is the only player on this list whose lack of Hall of Fame induction is not associated with any scandals. Theres a chance not a great one, but a chance that Whitaker, Trammell, and Morris could all be voted into the Hall of Fame in December. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. Free Press sports writers Tony Garcia and Evan Petzold and the Associated Press contributed to this report. If your Hall of Fame standard is I only want the best of the best the guys who we can call immortals in the Hall of Fame, then sure, Lou Whitaker is probably not your man. Nolan Ryan Houston Astros 1999 Hall of Fame Induction 8x10 Its going to happen, Trammell said Friday. Whitaker Lou Whitaker It might take him the full 10 years to get there, but Utley should eventually be a Hall of Famer. Bonds was a home run king for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants from 1989-2007. His career compares favorably to Bret Saberhagen's, who also had some high-profile postseason success early in his career and was a legitimate ace for a number of years. All of which is to say: a second baseman with pop, patience or outstanding but unsexy defensive ability was almost guaranteed to be discounted by the biases of the era, and Whitakers game hit all three of those things harder than just about anyone else. The best comparison for Flix Hernndez might be Johan Santana, who had a similarly dominant peak but fell short of the overall numbers generally associated with a Hall of Fame career. Whitaker had stats and accomplishments over his 19-year career that not only stood the test of time, but seemed strengthened by it. 30 Apr 2023 02:06:19 For what its worth, if you use Baseball-References Similarity Score of players, Sandberg is the most comparable player to Whitaker and there are six Hall of Famers among the top 10, including Whitakers long time double play partner, Alan Trammell. WebFind many great new & used options and get the best deals for Lou Whitaker Detroit Tigers Baseball Hall Fame 1979 Topps Card 123 Louis Sweet at the best online prices at eBay! Heck, even if you say the Hall messed up, like, 8-10 of those calls per position and thus the bar should not be so low, Whitaker still belongs. Clemens also pitched for the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros. Coln ranks in the top 50 all-time in wins (247, 50th) and strikeouts (2,535, 36th), but he did it more with longevity than dominance, posting a 4.12 ERA and 106 ERA+ in 3,461.2 career innings. If he had a few 8 WAR years and fewer 3 WAR years, he'd be in., Sports Illustrated writer Jay Jaffe isnt optimistic about Whitakers chances. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Ichiro Strikes Out 16, Goes 3-for-4 in A Sandlot Game - MLB | NBC Sports Who Are The Best Baseball Players Not In The Hall Of Fame? Utley had an amazing five-year peak where he racked up 39.7 WAR and helped bring the Philadelphia Phillies their first World Series title in 28 years. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. What Is The Fastest Possible Baseball Pitch? Also on the ballot were guys on this and previous years Modern Baseball Era ballots such as Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tommy John, Steve Garvey, and Don Mattingly. He was a two-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger winner, and his 40.1 WAR is good for 38th all-time among third basemen, ahead of guys like Tim Wallach (38.5), Eric Chavez (38.2) and Troy Glaus (38.1). The heavily loaded plane crashed just off the Puerto Rican coast, and Clementes body was never recovered. MLB Power Rankings: The biggest Hall of Fame snub for every team Free shipping for many products! The Hall of Fame, though, isnt always great about rewarding consistent players who are good in a number of areas but seemingly not elite at any. MORE: Vets committees should review players separately. much time with injury, but he did have some bangs that cost him, with his otherwise excellent 1988 season consisting of only 115 games. Hall of Fame Announces Changes to Era Committees, Vote: 25 Best Players Not in the Hall of Fame, Reaching the BBWAA Standard, not just the Hall of Fame Standard, New Visual: Graham Womacks Top 50 Players Not in the Hall of Fame, Anticipating the 2014 Expansion Era Hall of Fame Ballot. Whitaker's chances seemed better in 2019, when he was the only Tiger under consideration and committee members included former opponents George Brett, Rod Carew, Dennis Eckersley, Eddie Murray, Ozzie Smith and Robin Yount, not to mention former Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. His 75.1 Wins Above Replacement, MORE: 17 predictions for the 2017 MLB season. Then, the adjWAR and adjWAA are combined, but with extra weighting given to adjWAA. A Hall Rating of 100 represents the Hall of Stats borderline (similar to OPS+ or wRC+, where 100 represents league average). on Baseball Reference. The ballot was determined by the BBWAAs 11-person historical overview committee: Bob Elliott (Canadian Baseball Network), Jim Henneman (formerly Baltimore Sun), Steve Hirdt (Stats Perform), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), David OBrien (The Athletic), Jack OConnell (BBWAA), Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram), Tracy Ringolsby (InsideTheSeams.com), Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle), Susan Slusser (San Francisco Chronicle) and Mark Whicker (Los Angeles News Group). The list above represents the five best baseball players who are not in the Hall of Fame, from the best on down. I might be 99 and walking with a cane saying, Finally, what took you so long?'